Tear top opening carton

ABSTRACT

A top-opening paperboard carton having a top wall formed of overlapped end wall and side wall flaps, the latter overlying the former and having oblique lines of weakness arranged parallel to and above angled side edge portions on the end wall flaps, and finger entry points in the top wall whereby the end wall flaps may be engaged by the fingers and pulled upwardly to tear the side wall flaps along the lines of weakness.

United States Patent [191 Skillen 51 Jan. 23, 1973 [541 TEAR TOP OPENINGCARTON 2,713,454 7 1955 Nute et a1 ..229/51 TC Inventor: R. d O Wagner,.ll'. taflo Canada 3,002,613 10/1961 Merkel ...229/5l TS X 3,355,08911/1967 Champlin.... ..229/5l TS [73] Assignee: Somerville IndustriesLimited, Lon- 3,580,482 5/1971 Witte ..229/51 TC don, Ontario, Canada 1Primary Examiner-Davis T. Moorhead 22 F1 d: n. 29 1971 l 1 l 6 JaAttbmey-Fetherstonhaugh & Co. 1 1 pp 110,943 v ['57] ABSTRACT [30]Foreign Application Priority Data 7 A top-opening paperboard cartonhaving a top wall Aug. 25, 1970 Canada... ..091699 formed of overlappedend wall and Side wall fl the latter overlying the former and havingOblique lines of E2 "229/51 220/1 :6 :22: weakness arranged parallel toand above angled side n I edge portrons on the end wall flaps, andfinger entry [58] held o a l "229/ 1 5 1 points in the top wall wherebythe end wall flaps may be engaged by the fingers and pulled upwardly totear References Cited the side wall flaps along the lines of weakness.

UNlTED STATES PATENTS 4 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures 2,287,520 6/1942Freshwaters ..229/51 TC PATENTED JAN 23 I975 R.N. mwM mu Wl f 6. m H iWY. B

TEAR TOP OPENING CARTON FIELD OF INVENTION so that the purchaser canpull up the recessed handle until its hand hole is exposed.

PRIOR ART Heretofore, the opening of the above type of beer carton hasbeen largely a matter of manipulating the fingers through the handleslot and pulling upwardly on the side wall flaps forming the greaterpart of the top wall. More often than not, this action, apart fromrequiring considerably exertion, will also tear the side wallsthemselves. Thus, the opening of the carton often results in its partialdestruction and it isless effective as a receptacle for empty bottlesand as a carton for returning the bottles to the sales outlet.

SUMMARY In accordance with the present invention, there is provided apaperboard carton of theaforementioned type which includes a top wallconstruction which is both easier to'open than cartons known before andwhich avoids tearing of the carton side walls during the openingoperation. This is accomplished by a top wall construction consisting ofoverlapped side and end wall flaps, the side wall flaps overlying andbeing glued to said end wall flaps, the side edges of said end wallflaps being inclined from the free end of the flap towards a side wallso that theside edges of the end wall flaps include portions which areangled with respect to the side walls, said side wall flaps includinglines of weakness positioned over and being substantially parallel tothe angled portions of the end wall side edges, said side wall flapsalso including finger entrypointsadjacent the free ends of the end wallflaps, whereby said carton can be opened byemploying said finger entrypoints to grip the undersides of the end wall flaps and to lift .the endwall flaps while simultaneously tearing said side wall flapsalong saidlines of weakness.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The invention will be more thoroughly understoodfromthe following descriptionofthepreferred embodiment thereof as read:in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the upperwend of a paperboard carton inaccordance with this preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view partially broken away of the carton as itis being opened.

Referring to FIG. 1, the carton illustrated is an elongated beer cartonof the type that is commonly used to package 12 bottles. It should beunderstood however, that while the top opening carton of the inventionis particularly suited as a beer carton, its use need not be limitedthereto.

Needless to say the illustrated carton is formed of paperboard ofsufficient strength to support the enclosed contents. When used as abeer carton, the illustrated carton is provided with a longitudinallyextending center partition and a plurality of transverse partitionswhich divide the interior of the carton into a number of cells forreceiving and separating the bottles. This central partition carries ahandle which is normally recessed within the carton but can be pulledupwardly through a central slot. The upper end of this handle 10 can beseen in FIG. 1.

The carton is comprised of a bottom wall, not shown, a pair of end walls12, a pair of side walls 14 and a top wall 16. The top wall is actuallyformed of flaps 12a and 14a hinged to the end and side wallsrespectively. From FIG. 1, it can be seen that the side wall flaps 14aoverlie the end wall flaps 12a and further that the side wall flaps meetalong the center line of the carton and do not overlap each other.Elongated shallow recesses on the free edges of the side wall flapsprovide the longitudinally extending slot 20 through which the handlecan protrude. When the carton has been filled, it is closed andsealed'by the-inward folding of the end and side wall flaps to form upthe top, with the side wall flaps being glued to the top surface of theend wall flaps.

FIG. 2 shows the carton of FIG. 1 prior to closure and sealing. Asmentioned above, closure is effected by first folding down the end wallflaps 12a and then the side wall flaps 14a with the latter being gluedto the end wall flaps. In FIG. 2, it can be seen that the free ends ofthe end wall flaps haveplan forms which consist of truncated trianglesso that the side edges of the end wall flapsinclude portions 22 whichextend at an angle to the side walls. It can also be seen that the sidewall flaps 14a are provided with lines of weakness which are so locatedthat when the carton has been closed, these lines of weakness liesubstantially over and parallel to theangled partitions 22 of the endwall flap side edges. The effect of this arrangement is that when theend wall flaps are lifted upwardly as shown in FIG. 3, the side wallstear along these lines of weaknesses leaving the greater part ofthe sidewall flaps completely free to be upwardly folded to provide access tothe contents of the carton. In effect, the arrangement means that theend wall flaps are used as'levers to tear the side wallflaps and .asthis tearing is .carried out along predetermined lines, thereisnodangerthat the sidewalls .them- FIG. 2 isa perspective viewpartially broken away of the upper end of the-carton of FIG. .1andshowsthe carton in its conditionpriortoitsclosure atthe packingplant; and.

selves will also be torn.

At each end of the carton, :there is provided finger access .pointswhich permits the operator to work ,his fingers or his thumb underneaththe end wall flaps to carryout the upward tearing operationshown in FIG.3. These finger access points consist of small .transverse slits .26.and angled creaselines28. These fingeraccess points are, of course,located ,at the center line of the carton immediately adjacenttheedges-of the end wall flaps.

Minor modifications to the illustrated embodiment of the invention arepossible without departing from the scope of the invention. For example,while it might detract someone from the appearance of the carton, itwould be possible to provide finger holes in lieu of the press-in" typeof finger access points illustrated. Further variations in the nature ofthe inclined portions 22 of the end wall flaps would not seriouslyreduce the effectiveness of the opening action. Further slightmisalignments between the angled lines of weakness in the side wallflaps and the angled portions of the end wall flaps would not seriouslyinterfere with fast and effective opening of the carton.

I claim:

1. A paperboard carton having bottom, top, side and end walls, said topwall consisting of overlapped side and end wall flaps, the side wallflaps overlying and being glued to said end wall flaps, at least aportion of the side edges of said end wall flaps being inclined from thefree end of the flap towards a side wall, said side wall flaps includinglines of weakness positioned over and being substantially parallel tothe inclined portions of the end wall side edges, said side wall flapsalso including finger entry points adjacent the free ends of the endwall flaps, whereby said carton can be opened by employing said fingerentry points to grip the undersides of the end wall flaps and to liftthe end wall flaps while simultaneously tearing said side wall flapsalong said lines of weakness.

2. A paperboard carton as claimed in claim 1 in which the free end ofsaid end flaps is the small dimensions of a truncated portion of atriangle.

3. A paperboard carton as claimed in claim 1 in which said finger entrypoints consist of transverse cuts and angled crease lines in the freeedges of said side wall flaps.

4. A paperboard carton as claimed in claim 2 in which said finger entrypoints consist of transverse cuts and angled crease lines in the freeedges of said side wall flaps.

t h i

2. A paperboard carton as claimed in claim 1 in which the free end ofsaid end flaps is the small dimensions of a truncated portion of atriangle.
 3. A paperboard carton as claimed in claim 1 in which saidfinger entry points consist of transverse cuts and angled crease linesin the free edges of said side wall flaps.
 4. A paperboard carton asclaimed in claim 2 in which said finger entry points consist oftransverse cuts and angled crease lines in the free edges of said sidewall flaps.